07/16/2021
Increasingly, city government leaders acknowledge that building more powerful families and enhancing outcomes for their kids and young people are the keys to long-lasting social and economic success. 'A community's quality of life can be measured by the chances offered to help kids and households succeed,' states Ron Gonzales, mayor of San Jose, Calif., the previous chair of National League of Cities' (NLC) Council on Youth, Education, and Households. 'Without this investment, communities deal with higher expenses for public safety and human services, tighter municipal budget plans, reduced capacity of the local workforce and weakened the development of the local economy.' In order to support these efforts, NLC has established a new effort to help young people succeed. The two-part 'City Platform for Conditioning Households and Improving Outcomes for Kid and Youth' urges authorities to take specific actions that have proven to strengthen households and promote continual development over time, including recommendations to: β’ β’ Bring together leaders from the general public, private and not-for-profit sectors in addition to parents and other community residents through a mayor's job force or commission to determine their communities' requirements, chances and concerns. β’ β’ Promote reliable city-school collaboration through routine meetings between the mayor and city board, school board and school superintendent that concentrate on shared top priorities and the development of joint strategies. β’ β’ Directly involve young people by sponsoring a mayor's youth council, selecting youth to municipal boards and committees, and holding communitywide youth summits. β’ β’ Step progress over time through a neighborhood 'scorecard' that tracks key results and places them within the context of a wider report on the status of children, youth and families. The 2nd part of the platform suggests a set of concrete action steps for communities to carry out in crucial locations, consisting of early youth development; youth development; education and afterschool programs; health and wellness; youth in shift and at threat; household economic success; and areas and community. 'This platform provides a blueprint for all city leaders can follow,' Gonzales said.